1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image recorder employing a photosensitive sheet on which microcapsules containing dyes are coated, and more particularly, to a color image recorder in which a long photosensitive sheet is intermittently conveyed along a process path for image recording and an image projector employed in the color image recorder.
2. Description of the Background Arts
For a long time, color image recording process has been conducted only in a printing factory, since conventional color image recorders are complicated in structure and operators skilled in the process are required.
Recently, compact color image recorders capable of being used in an office and the like have been developed. In one of the conventional compact color image recorders is so constructed that an electrostatic latent image is produced on a photosensitive drum, and color toners electrostatically adsorbed on the latent image are transferred to a record paper. The color image recorder, however, has a disadvantage in that the color toners are often scattered to a pheripheral mechanism as dusts.
Another conventional recorder is that of termal transfer type, in which respective color inks applied on films are thermally transferred to a record sheet. The termal transfer process should be carried out for each color ink film, and therefore, the image recording cannot be conducted at a high speed.
In order to overcome the disadvantages, a photosensitive sheet on which photohardenable microcapsules containing dyes are coated has been invented, as disclosed in "The Mead Microencapsulated Imaging System" SPSE 23rd Fall Synposium on Microimaging Technology, Nov. 15, 1983. The photosensitive sheet having the microcapsules thereon should be carefully handled, since the microcapsules are often destroyed through rough handling. Therefore, it is desired to develop a color image recorder suitable for the image recording with the photosensitive sheet. Furthermore, an image projector and other mechanisms required in the color image recorder should be so constructed that the image recording process can be conducted at a high speed and a high accuracy.